Over the past several years, storage devices utilizing solid state memory components have become popular replacements for rotating hard drives. Solid state memory components are especially advantageous in harsh environmental and industrial applications. Many of these storage devices incorporate Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) connector interfaces.
SATA is a computer bus primarily designed for transfer of data between a computer and mass storage devices, such as hard disk drives and optical drives. The main advantages over the older parallel ATA interface include faster data transfer, ability to remove or add devices while operating (hot swapping), thinner cables that let air cooling work more efficiently, and more reliable operation with tighter data integrity checks. SATA was designed as a successor to the Advanced Technology Attachment standard (ATA), and may eventually replace the older technology Parallel ATA or PATA. SATA adapters and devices communicate over a high-speed serial cable.
SAS is another data transfer technology designed to move data between a computer and computer storage devices, such as hard drives and tape drives. It is a point-to-point serial protocol that replaces the parallel SCSI bus technology that first appeared in the mid 1980s in corporate data centers. SAS uses the standard SCSI command set.
A SATA connector or a SAS connector mate with external connectors of computer cables, such as cables providing power and data from a computer. During engagement, pin contacts of the cable connectors slide over contact pads of the SATA/SAS connector. SATA/SAS connectors are quick to install, inexpensive, and relatively reliable for very low vibration applications.
However, in high vibration environments, the integrity of conventional engagements between SATA/SAS connectors and external cable connectors may be significantly degraded. For example, significant vibration may cause a cable connector over time to loosen and ultimately disengage from the SATA/SAS connector. In an environment with high vibration, pin contacts of the cable connectors also may rub or scrape against the contact pads of a SATA/SAS connector. This rubbing and scraping degrades physical contact between the SATA/SAS connector and the cable connectors, and undesirably may produce gold dust. Further, because physical contact is compromised, electrical communications between the hard drive and the computer, as well as the delivery of power, may be interrupted or altogether halted.
Perhaps worse still, use of conventional engagement techniques involving SATA/SAS connectors and cable connectors can break the SATA/SAS connector. In high vibration environments, SATA/SAS connectors are subjected to constant stresses and forces applied in all directions relative to the hard drive to which it is attached. Over time, the stresses and forces may cause the SATA/SAS connector to splinter from the hard drive.